Following weeks of closed-door testimony, public hearings have started into the impeachment inquiry of U.S. President Donald Trump.

(New York Post)

First up are two career diplomats, George Kent and William Taylor, who have already said in the closed-door phase, that Trump withheld hundreds of millions in aid to Ukraine to pressure that country’s new president to investigate Joe Biden and his son.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff opened this morning’s hearing by saying the questions at the heart of the inquiry are simple, but also ”terrible” to consider.

He says it boils down to if Trump sought to condition a White House visit or military aid on Ukraine’s willingness to open an investigation into Biden.

If the president did, Schiff says is that ”abuse of power” incompatible with the office Trump holds.

The hearings will shift, likely by American Thanksgiving November 28, to the House Judiciary Committee to consider actual articles of impeachment.

The Democrat controlled House is expected to vote by Christmas.

If passed and the House votes to impeach Trump, it would go to the Republican controlled Senate for a trial in an election year.

Few expect the Senate to actually remove him from office.